Kid Kyubi
by mellra
Summary: What if, when Minato sealed half of Kurama's chakra away, he also sealed a good portion of his memories? After Kurama is sealed into Naruto, he regresses back into a fox kit, during the time of the Sage and the Biju's meeting. Eventual Naru/Hina.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the anime/manga/movies/etc. that I write about; otherwise I would be a millionaire NOT writing on fanfiction publishing my own ideas.

**Summary: **What if, when Minato sealed half of Kurama's chakra away, he also sealed a good portion of his memories? After Kurama is sealed into Naruto, he regresses back into a fox kit, during the time of the Sage and the Biju's meeting. Eventual Naru/Hina.

**Kid Kyubi**

Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox, was mad. Scratch that, he was _furious_! For the first time in nearly a century he was finally free from his prison, only to have his mind taken over by that thrice-cursed Sharingan _again_! Seriously, if he hadn't been controlled a few minutes ago he'd high-tail it out of the village he found himself in, but now he would just destroy it to relieve some built up stress he accumulated over the years. Then, to add the icing on top of the cake, he found himself battling the leader of said village, who also happened to be his last host's mate, and the infuriating blond wasn't going easy on him. It was clear that Minato Namikaze was on a whole different league to the ants he had been swatting aside for the past half-hour. The Fourth Hokage had even summoned the Toad Boss in order to battle him, and was able to redirect his most powerful attack, the Tailed Beast Bomb, like it was nothing! If he was in his right mind and wasn't so ticked off Kurama might have actually been impressed by the human's power.

As Kurama battled the blond human, he thought back onto where it all went wrong in his life. It all started a few years after the Sage of the Six Paths died. After his death, almost no people saw the Biju as sentient creatures, just as beasts and weapons to use as they constantly battled each other in a never ending war. One by one, he and his siblings started to lose faith in humanity, as well as in the prophesy that their 'father' gave them, that a single human would be able to earn their trust and bring peace to the world. Then, close to a century ago everything _really_ went down the crapper. A human, probably the most infuriating human alive, named Madara Uchiha, came to his territory and was able to gain control of his mind using his Sharingan! The tailed beast had never felt so humiliated and violated in his entire life, not even when those accursed Gold and Silver brothers from the Hidden Cloud had tried to take his power (he still got a stomach ache every time he thought of those two).

That a-hole Madara had used him to battle an almost equally infuriating human, Hashirama Senju. The battled was long and fierce, but the First Hokage was eventually victorious, causing the Uchiha to flee. However, before Kurama could fully regain his freedom, the First had used his immense powers to subdue him while the man's wife, an Uzumaki named Mito, had sealed him inside herself, the two of them saying that his power was too great and destructive to be allowed to roam free. Who were they to judge that?! It made it even worse that they were all descended from the same line as the old man, which was like rubbing salt on the wounds. Then, as Mito's life drew to a close years later, Kurama found himself being sealed inside a brat of a little girl. Seriously, any kid that hyper needed to have their heads examined. She was also an Uzumaki named Kushina and she just treated him like he was just a beast that needed to be locked up, oh how that burned him up!

A few years later it looked like he had a chance at freedom. Kushina was to have a child and, due to the seal weakening during childbirth, Kurama did everything he could to escape. Unfortunately the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze happened to be the infant's father and, due to his skills in sealing that his wife had taught him, he was able to keep the seal stable during the birth. Suddenly, a masked man broke into the hidden location the birthing was taken place, killing the ANBU guards and holding the newborn brat hostage. Minato was able to teleport himself and the brat to safety, leaving Kushina alone with the masked man. Suddenly, the Kyubi found himself looking into a Sharingan eye that the man possessed hidden by his mask. Kurama found his control over his own body fading as he was ripped out of his host, and found himself being summoned to attack the Hidden Leaf village.

The fox could see himself attacking the village, slaughtering the annoying ants called shinobi by the hundreds. Suddenly, he found himself in control of his body again, but at this point he was too enraged to care due to the shinobi of the village constantly attacking him. Slowly but surely the Biju found himself being pushed outside of the village. Kurama prepared to fire another Tailed Beast Bomb at the surrounding warriors, but suddenly found that the Boss Toad was being dropped right on top of him! This led to his current predicament. As he prepared to kill the overgrown tadpole, Kurama suddenly felt himself transported a safe distance away from the Leaf village. Before he could react or flee, the Tailed Beast found himself wrapped up in his previous host's chakra chains, unable to move an inch.

Kurama noticed movement beneath him and saw two of the people responsible for his current predicament, that blond idiot and his previous host. Before he could make a move to free himself, he noticed the man performing hand signs when suddenly, he saw the spectral form of the Reaper rise up behind the Fourth and it plunged it's hand into the man. The hand went straight through the human and latched onto the Nine-Tailed Fox. '**Curse you, Fourth Hokage!**' Kurama thought as he realized what the ninja had planned. They planned on sealing him away again, and he would be imprisoned again so soon after being free! No, he couldn't allow that! The Kyubi suddenly felt immense pain as half of his chakra was forcibly ripped from his body and into the Reaper's stomach along with the man's soul. He felt himself shrinking as his powers diminished slightly, however he noticed something else was wrong with him. Before Kurama could further dwell on what was wrong with him, he noticed Minato summoned a ceremonial pedestal and placed his newborn son on it.

'**Does he mean to seal me away again, in that child?!**' Kurama thought. He then noticed the chains binding him started to become slack as Kushina's strength faded and, acting on pure desperation, plunged his large clawed had at the child, thinking that if the baby was destroyed he wouldn't be sealed. To his surprise, the two parents jumped in front of his claw and stopped it with their own bodies before it could reach the baby. "**Curse you both!**" Kyubi growled out, before he saw Namikaze giving the key to the new seal to a summoned toad before completing another set of hand seals. As he was being drawn into the seal on the infant, he noticed the Reaper swallowing the last few traces of his chakra and Minato's soul.

Shortly after arriving in his new prison, which he noticed looked like a jail mixed with a sewer system, he felt a stabbing pain in his head and noticed his body was still shrinking. To his growing horror, Kurama found it harder and harder to remember certain aspects of his life. It was then he realized when the Reaper sealed away half his chakra, he must have also sealed away a portion of his memories. Before he blacked out Kurama, the Nine Tailed Fox and strongest of the Tailed Beasts, managed to growl out, "**C…curse it all!**" and then he went into a deep slumber, one he wouldn't wake up from for a few years. What neither Kurama nor the people who sealed him realized was that, by sealing part of his chakra and a portion of his memories away, it caused the Tailed Beast to revert back to his childhood in both mind and body. Only 10 minutes after he blacked out, Kurama had shrunk from his imposing form into a fluffy little fox kit, barely the size of a full grown Inuzuka dog. No one knew it yet, but events from this night would forever change the life of the Biju known as Kurama and the life of his host, a boy named Naruto Uzumaki!

**AN:** Hey all! So here's another idea I've had, however I'm having trouble continuing it. If anyone would like to help me write this, whether as a beta or whatever, please let me know. My thoughts behind this story is that, while there are many stories with Naruto and Kurama becoming friends earlier than in canon, none of them show Kurama as a kid himself. I thought Kurama's child form from the flashback he had was very, dare I say it, cute. So this story came from my crazy mind, hope you all enjoy! Please Read and Review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the anime/manga/movies/etc. that I write about; otherwise I would be a millionaire NOT writing on fanfiction publishing my own ideas.

**Time Skip 4 years**

Kurama awoke with a start. "**Whe…where am I?**" the fox kit stuttered out. The last thing he remembered was the old man saying his final parting words to him and his siblings before the Sage's death and of the nine of them about to embark on a journey to see the world and hopefully meet the person the Sage talked about. He was about to enter a large forested area when…what? Kurama couldn't recall what he did afterwards, but he knew for a fact that it didn't involve getting locked up in a large, sewer-like prison! "**H…hey, let me out! If this is a prank it isn't funny! Grrr…Shukaku, if this is your idea you are sooo gonna get it when I get out of here!**" Kurama cried out before cocking one ear to the side to listen for a response. After a few minutes and not hearing anything, Kurama started to get really worried. Sure the cage he was in looked like it was meant to hold something at least 5 times his size, but the bars were fairly close together and he noticed when he would get close to them it felt like some sort of force was pushing him back.

Now, while Kurama tries to put up a brave front most of the time, the truth is he's really timid. Not that he'd ever let anyone, least of all his siblings, know that. He was still catching grief from Shukaku about how he was caught crying after he got one of his nine tails stuck on a tree branch. Stupid tanuki, let's see how tough _he _is if he got his _one_ tail caught and painfully pulled on for nearly an hour, and then having to groom the thing back to its normal state. At least Kurama knew he was stronger than the One Tailed raccoon, something that he always used to get under that idiot's skin. At least Shukaku left his crying at the old man's farewell alone, they all missed the man they came to see as a father of sorts, even though it had been only around a week since he passed on from this life. Kurama was brought out of his musings when he realized his chakra felt weaker than before. With a start, he realized that he was missing half of it! Now Kurama was really starting to get worried. He was locked up in a scary, unknown place with half of his chakra gone, and what's worse is that it looked like no one was around to hear his calls.

He suddenly noticed a slight pull on his chakra and noticed that it felt familiar. Kurama then yelped in surprise when it came to him why the pull felt familiar was because whenever he was part of the Juubi with his siblings they all noticed a similar pull while they were sealed inside the old man. That could only mean one thing; someone had sealed him inside another person! Kurama spent the better part of an hour trying to figure out who sealed him, why was he sealed, who or what was he sealed in, and could he contact the outside world, or at least his siblings. Reaching out with his mind Kurama could faintly detect the presence of the other Tailed Beasts but for some reason they felt different, almost like their chakra was older or something, but the signal was too weak to tell. His siblings must have been too far away to get a proper reading.

Kurama next tried to learn more about his new host. He tried forming a mental link, but the seal holding him back was too strong. The only way he could contact whoever sealed him would be if the person actually tried to contact him in some way. Kurama sat on his haunches and pondered what to do while further taking in his new surroundings. "**Man this is such a drag**," in the outside world most of the men of the Nara clan sneezed, "**I have no idea what's going on, and to top it all off I'm stuck in this creepy place!**" Feeling slightly frustrated, Kurama curled up into a furry little ball and tried to fall back to sleep with little success. When he finally managed to drift off to la-la land, his dreams were filled with nightmares of burning villages and people with strange red eyes.

**Scene Break (Naruto)**

Naruto was having a pretty crappy day. True most of his days were pretty crappy but today seemed especially to be going down the toilet. Naruto was a young, four year old boy with wild blond hair, clear sapphire-blue eyes, and curiously enough, three whisker marks on both of his cheeks. Naruto had noticed at a young age that he seemed to be ignored by most adults while outright hated by others. He had no idea why this was and no one seemed to want to answer his questions on the subject, not even the old man with the awesome hat who sometimes took him out for ramen, which quickly became his favorite food. The young blond had been introduced to hardships early in his life because it had been two weeks since he was evicted from the orphanage he had spent his entire young life at. The owner of the orphanage had 'apologized' to him and said that there was no longer any room for him to stay at and that he needed to leave a.s.a.p. Naruto had wandered down the streets of Konoha (aka the Hidden Leaf Village), for about a week with little food and having to sleep in alleys or in the shade of trees surrounding the village. The only things in his possession were the clothes on his back with a few changes along with his toothbrush that were strung in up in a bag he carried with him.

His first thought was to find the previously mentioned old man, who he had heard people call 'Lord Hokage.' Man he wished people treated him with that kind of respect. His second thought was that he had no idea where to find the old man, so he was completely lost at what to do. After a week had passed he had been found by two ANBU members, one with a dog mask and spikey silver hair while the other had a cat mask and long purple hair. They had taken him to see old man Hokage and boy was he mad at the orphanage owner when he found out what happened. The old man was able to get the child an apartment set up at the edge of town and had provided him with weekly payments to get by, as well as a few lessons on how to take care of himself. This had cheered the young boy up immensely, but he was still unhappy due to how the other people of the village just seemed to ignore his existence.

This led to Naruto's current predicament with his particularly bad day. He had trouble making friends at the orphanage because most people he met would be adopted soon afterwards while he would be constantly overlooked. He had decided a week since moving into his new residence that he would see if he could make any friends at the local park and hoped that the kids his age wouldn't treat him like most adults did with either indifference or hatred and fear. Unfortunately, after he had arrived to the park and tried to talk to some kids their parents would usher them away from him and tell them to not associate with him. Even the pretty pink haired girl he saved from those bullies was dragged away from him. Night had fallen and Naruto went back to his apartment feeling more depressed than before. As he curled up into bed after a meal of instant ramen, which was all he could afford since most stores seemed to charge him extra for most items while calling it an 'orphan tax,' he slightly cried at the direction his life was heading and his final thought before he drifted off to sleep was, 'I wish I had a friend.'

**Scene Break (Mindscape)**

Naruto woke to find himself standing in some kind of sewer with water that reached up to his ankles (though he curiously didn't feel wet at all). Wondering how he got there, he wandered down the corridors with pipes lining the walls. He suddenly found himself in a large room with an equally large cage located on the other side that seemed to be held close with a simple strip of paper with the word 'seal' written on it. In the shadows of the cage there seemed to be a large shadowy object that was completely still save for the rise and fall of its side to the sound of what Naruto recognized as breathing. Timidly, the young blond crept closer to the cage in hopes of seeing what the shadowy object was. Suddenly, the shadowy object started to move as its breathing pattern changed. Panicking, Naruto then ran as quietly as he could to the nearest corner of the room and hid in the shadows, hoping that whatever was in the cage wouldn't see him.

Kurama awoke with a slight start from his soon to be forgotten nightmares and yawned while stretching each of his nine tails. He looked around blearily for a moment before he remembered his previously awakening and his current predicament. The young fox then noticed a new smell that had entered the room since he woke up. Squinting his red eyes a little, he could make out a tiny shape huddled in the shadows in the far corner of the room. Timidly he called out, "**H…hello? Is someone there?**"

Naruto gave a slight jump at the voice that penetrated the darkness. It sounded kind of dark and scary while still holding a child-like quality to it. Because the voice seemed more scared than threatening, Naruto slowly edged his way over towards the cage and was able to get a good look at the being inside it. The unknowing Jinchuriki saw a fairly large canine-shaped figure that had orangish-red fur that was black surrounding the eyes, which were red and slitted. The being had nine swaying tails behind it as well as weirdly hand shaped front paws and large rabbit-like ears that were cutely flopped to their sides. The being was a few feet taller than the boy but looked less intimidating than Naruto first thought it looked in the shadows. The young boy tried to process what the being was in front of him and came to a quick conclusion; "Puppy!" the blond happily yelled out. (Rights to this joke go to Phatalforce.)

Kurama was busy taking in the human before him and noticed the child was different from the old man. Since this was (to his memory) only the second human he had ever met he wondered if other humans came this small. Sure the old man was smaller than him but not by much while this human in front of him barely reached halfway up his front leg. The fox kit then took note of the strange human's blond hair, bright blue eyes, and curious whisker marks, and he wondered if other humans had similar markings. Despite his inner inquires, Kurama was still incredibly nervous because, even though he knew he was the strongest of the Biju and quite possibly the strongest being on the planet, the fox kit had no idea what the other human was capable of, for all he knew the child before him was the one who sealed the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of himself. It was then that the young fox heard the equally young boy's comment and bristled in indignation. "**Hey, I'm a fox, not some puppy!" **the Biju child growled at the young human, his nervousness and confusion momentarily forgotten.

"Holy cow, you can talk?!" came Naruto's 'smart' reply.

"**Of course I can,**" Kurama said while puffing his chest out in an attempt to look more impressive to the child. His posturing was completely shattered by the next sentence that was filled with uncertainty, which returned with vengeance, "**Um, w…who are you anyway?**"

"Oh yeah, my name's Naruto Uzumaki, what's yours?"

"**My name's Kurama. So, uh, do you know where we are?**" Kurama asked. Even though he had a good idea he still wanted conformation. He still didn't fully trust the blond and was trying to determine if the boy was responsible for his current imprisonment or not.

"Beats me. Last thing I remember was falling asleep in my apartment. Do you have any idea where we are?" Naruto asked while scrunching up his face in a 'thinking' pose which made his face take on a foxlike appearance.

"**Well…I'm not sure, but I think this may be your mindscape,**" the former adult Biju stated warily, since he knew the boy was telling the truth thanks to his ability to sense negative emotions so he could tell the boy was just as confused as he was.

"My mind? Then how in the world did you get here, and why does my mind look like a sewer?" Naruto asked surprised while wondering how a being easily three times his side could fit in his mind. He briefly considered it to be a ramen-induced nightmare but quickly dismissed the idea. There's no way God's gift to mankind would ever produce something as bad as a nightmare!

"**I wish I knew. Last thing I remember was that I was about to go looking for human settlements with my siblings like the old man wanted, the next thing I knew I woke up here. And as for why your mind is like a sewer, well maybe you've got your mind in the gutter,**" the last one was said with a nervous chuckle by the large fox. The childish Biju was starting to feel more comfortable around the young human because he could see the blatant confusion on the boy's face and felt no ill intent from his emotions so he knew that if he was sealed into the blond, it wasn't done with the child's consent. Kurama was also starting to realize the boy in front of him couldn't be much older than he was, noting the childish innocence the boy radiated as well as the 'young' feel the blonde's chakra had.

"HEY! My minds not in the gutter you fur ball! And what did you mean by old man and siblings? You mean there are more giant foxes roaming around?" Naruto asked, wondering why he'd never heard of something like that before. You'd think giant foxes wandering around would be something that he'd at least _hear _about, even with his limited knowledge. Course the more he thought of it the more awesome that sounded! (Hey come on, what four year old boy wouldn't love to see giant talking animals?)

After slightly bristling at the 'fur ball' comment, he got enough of that crap from Shukaku, Kurama said, "**Well not quite, you see I have eight other brothers and sisters, and the old man was the one who 'created' us in a way. You humans called him the Sage of the Six Paths I believe, but he's gone now.**" He said with a downcast expression at the last part, his ears and tails drooping cutely.

Naruto, feeling a sense of kinship with the large fox kit, decided to help cheer him up. Deciding to use old man Hokage's method of cheering him up Naruto said, "Hey there it's okay, tell me what's wrong." Normally the boy wasn't as receiving of strangers as this due to how other people seem to view him, but he could see the uncertainty and hurt in the fox's crimson eyes and realized they were similar to the look in his own eyes whenever he felt scared and alone.

Snapping out of his slight stupor, Kurama cursed himself for his momentary show of weakness. Deciding that the boy was trustworthy enough, the fox decided to explain his predicament and hope for the best. The two started to talk and get to know each other better, hesitantly at first but with greater confidence as time went on. The strange duo talked about their pasts, how Kurama had felt with the old man's passing, his siblings and his relationship each of them. They then talked about how Naruto was treated by the village and how he hoped to gain recognition from those around him. Kurama felt a growing sense of respect and sympathy for the young blond due to his never give up attitude he showed while describing his life. The kit also felt a pang of worry that the villager's behavior towards the boy might be due to his being sealed inside the child. Why, he didn't know because he hadn't done anything in recent memory that would cause people to hate him, though he did remember the Sage warning the Biju that humans may fear them because they wouldn't understand them. That didn't explain why Naruto didn't seem to fear him though. A thought suddenly occurred to him, "**Hey, Naruto? You said we're in a village, where is this village exactly?**"

"Oh, this is the Hidden Leaf Village in the Land of Fire! It's the greatest ninja village ever!" explained Naruto, happy to remember his brief lessons the Hokage gave him after moving him into his apartment.

Kurama, however, was at a loss, '**Ninjas? Hidden villages? What's going on? I know the people the old man had started to teach were calling themselves ninja but there haven't been any villages formed yet! People were still discovering what chakra was the last time I checked, so how could there be any villages devoted to the old man's teachings?**'A strange but worrying thought occurred to Kurama. His current sealing, ninja's with hidden villages, people not knowing about the Sage or the Biju? It was like he moved forward in time but that wasn't possible, right? So the large fur ball asked the whiskered child what the current date was and after the kid answered, he started to panic. "**Over 2,000 years?! I've been thrown over 2,000** **years into the future!? How did this happen?! What do I do now?!**"

Naruto watched in concern as he watched his hopefully new friend go into a rather large panic attack. The boy tried calming the fox down by trying to get his attention, and then giving him some words of comfort. After the kit had finally calmed down the two began discussing their next course of action while trying to figure out why Kurama was sealed in Naruto and why it seemed like the large fox had been transported two millennia into the future. After not coming up with any good excuses, the pair talked more on their likes and dislikes and just generally bonded well into the night.

**AN: **First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you who has favorited and reviewed this story. I had no idea it would be so popular! Thanks to the popularity this story has, I feel obligated to update this one along with 'Chimera Luffy'. However, since this one will differ from canon more than the One Piece story and for the fact that I'm not overly skilled at writing dialogue; would someone be interested in writing this story with me? I'm not necessarily asking for a Beta but just someone who I can brainstorm with and go over ideas with. Now for some things I hope to clear up: Naruto is 4 years old when he meets Kurama because I feel that it would be young enough that he wouldn't have heard the full story of the Kyubi attack and thus wouldn't already develop a biased opinion on Kurama, allowing them to become friends. Some may think I made Naruto too mature in some areas but that's because I feel that Naruto had to grow up fast as a child due to the constant loneliness he suffered through as a child. He's still going to be a little on the dense side in this story and events are going to be largely canon after his graduation with a few tweaks here and there. Kurama is going to act largely as a friend/advisor/brother figure to Naruto, due to being different species he can't really teach much to Naruto except be his voice of reason. That always bothered me in some Naruto-Kyubi fanfictions that have Kurama as Naruto's teacher, there is really no way he could teach our favorite blond much outside of history, how to use his chakra, and act as his voice of reason but due to losing his memories in this fic the history lessons are out. Some other events of the story are: Naruto will become friends with Hinata next chapter but they won't get involved romantically until _much later_, they're only kids you know. There will be NO BASHING in this fic, except for certain enemies. I usually find bashing kinda funny for the most part but I'll explain that and most other things next chapter, I've rambled on enough. One last thing: do you think I should have Naruto ask the Third about Kurama yes or no? I'll take all advice under consideration and I hope to make this a fic everyone can enjoy. Till next time, please read and review!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the anime/manga/movies/etc. that I write about; otherwise I would be a millionaire NOT writing on fanfiction publishing my own ideas.

**Chapter 3**

Naruto awoke with a start. His eyes darted around the room and he noticed he was no longer in the sewer-like room but his own bedroom of his apartment. Naruto went through a whirlwind of emotions, the most prominent one being disappointment. After talking with Kurama for most of the night, the boy had thought he made his first real friend, only to wake up leading him to believe the previous night's events were only a dream. '_Did any of that actually happen? Is there really a fox sealed inside of me?'_

"**It happened all right."** Said a very familiar voice out of nowhere, causing Naruto to leap around 10 feet in the air giving off a high-pitched girlish squeal. Kurama's voice chuckled a bit before quipping, **"Man Naruto, you sure aren't a morning person, are you?"**

"Kurama?! Where are you, I don't see you anywhere!" Naruto called out while searching around the room, even going as far as to look underneath his bed and in his closet.

Inside the seal, Kurama didn't know whether to laugh or face-palm at his host's actions, so he settled for a sweat-drop. **"I'm still in your mind Naruto. Now that we've made contact I can talk to you whenever I want as long as you don't block me out. Did you honestly think I could hide myself in this tiny room?" **he asked rhetorically.

Naruto laughed sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head and said, "Well, what'd you think if you heard a voice out of nowhere? So, are you still sure about the plan?"

Earlier, Kurama had asked the blond if there was anyone he knew who might have an idea on why the fox was currently sealed in the boy and why it seemed like he was transported into the future. Naruto, after much thinking, had decided that Old Man Hokage would most likely have the answers. After all, he had seen many people come to the elderly man with questions during the times the man came to visit him on his birthdays. Naruto figured that if anyone could answer his questions it'd be the Old Man. That and the fact that he was one of a few people the boy whole-heartedly trusted. The whiskered child told his newly found friend about the old man and the fox had decided it would probably be for the best if the blond met with the aged leader.

"**I'm sure. Hopefully this 'Hokage' guy can answer our questions or at least show us someone who can." **Kurama replied with a nod of his vulpine head. He also figured that if the man tried anything fishy he'd be able to sense his ill intentions and be able to get Naruto safely away using his chakra.

"Alrighty then, but first some breakfast!" Naruto cheered happily while going into his kitchen and pulling out some instant ramen. Through Naruto's eyes Kurama looked on questioningly. **"Hey Naruto, what's that?" **causing the blond to halt in his tracks with a wide-eyed expression. "WHAT!? You've never heard of ramen before?! It's only the greatest food on God's green Earth, anyone who doesn't know that must be enlightened!" Naruto cried out while an angelic light surrounded him and you could faintly hear a chorus singing in the background.

'**How'd he do that?'** Kurama wondered about the strange phenomenon before shaking his head and, deciding to amuse the blond said, **"Well, I've never heard of it but I think I know of a way I can. You see, if you allow it I can interact with the world through your body. From what I can tell of this seal though it'd only let me if you willingly allow it." **Naruto thought about it and, even though he was creeped out by the whole 'using your body thing,' I mean what kind of sick, twisted, most likely pedophilic person would ever use that sentence? (Meanwhile in the still forming Sound Village an extremely pale man sneezed.) Naruto decided he'd allow it because he wanted to have a good relationship with his new found friend and he also felt obligated to show the fox the beauty that is ramen! So, with a mental nod of his head, Naruto allowed the Nine Tailed Fox interact with the world for the first time in 4 years (not that either of them were aware of this fact). Naruto's eyes became red with his pupil becoming a narrow slit. While the jinchuriki was aware of his surroundings and still had control of his body, it felt as though another presence was with him, almost like when someone stares over your shoulder.

The four year old poured the cooked ramen into a bowel after the aggravating three minute wait and started to dig in. Meanwhile, inside the seal, Kurama's eyes widened comically as he was able to taste the noodles through his host's senses. The young fox had never tasted anything like it before and he loved it! It was almost better than having live game from a forest! After Naruto slurped down the last of the ramen Kurama said, **"That was awesome! Is there any way we can get more?" ** Naruto could practically see the waterfall of drool coming from the fox kit's mouth as his nine tails wagged behind him.

Naruto grinned a foxy smile. Yet another person has been taught the wonders of ramen! He couldn't wait to introduce Kurama to Ichiraku's ramen. Naruto changed into his street cloths after his morning routine of brushing his teeth and showering before heading out the door to go meet with the Old Man.

**Scene Break**

Hiruzen Sarutobi, nicknamed the God of Shinobi and the Professor by his peers. He was a man who led his village as it's Hokage for many years and had lived through all three major ninja wars. The elderly man had been taught by both the First and Second Hokage and had retaken his mantle after his predecessor died in the Kyubi attack four years ago. This great man was currently in his office and had just won a battle with his eternal nemesis: paperwork.

The aged leader smiled and leaned back in his chair while lighting up his pipe. So far the day had been going well for the man. He had visited his recently born grandson Konohamaru and was able to finish the towering stack of papers fairly early having worked on most of them the previous night so he'd be able to have a me day. The Third Hokage stretched his stiff muscles and was just about to reach into his desk to pull out his student's latest Icha Icha book when his office door opened.

Muttering a slight curse under his breath, the closet pervert looked to see who interrupted his me time. When he saw the mop of blond hair he smiled warmly and said, "Well good morning there Naruto!"

Naruto Uzumaki filled Hiruzen with both happiness and regret. It saddened the man that it was unlikely that the boy would ever live a normal childhood, given his little 'condition.' The elderly Sarutobi knew that the boy's life would be difficult due to his status as a host of the most powerful Biju, but it couldn't really be helped. Too many people had been present to witness Minato seal the beast into the new-born and, rather than risk that information leaking out without his knowledge and causing a riot, he decided to announce the boy's status to the village along with Minato's last wish for the boy to be seen as a hero in the hopes that the villagers would listen to their deceased leader's wish. It was all for naught sadly, as most people let their grief and hatred override all sense of reason. Fortunately nobody had actively gone out of his way to harm the child (just to be sure he had Anbu members on constant guard around the boy to stop any random drunkard or hateful villager) but the results were less than satisfactory.

The villagers had opted to just ignore Naruto's existence, besides the occasional derogatory insult aimed his way. Even though Hiruzen had forbade all talk of the boy's status to anyone under chunin rank or outsider, the people of the village had instead found a loophole by telling the children and any newcomers to the village that the boy was a no good troublemaker. The Hokage might be the supreme power in the village, but even he couldn't change people's hearts. The only real major scare he had with the boy though happened recently when the owner of the orphanage that Naruto was living in kicked the boy out a few weeks ago. Hiruzen had personally seen to it that the man got taught a lesson by Ibiki in the T and I division with the help of his latest assistant Anko. He also made sure that the boy was given a place to stay as well as lessons on how to live on his own so if Naruto ever found himself in a similar predicament at least the old man would rest easier knowing he could take care of himself. Sarutobi knew that his life in the village might improve if he told the villagers, or even the boy himself, who his parents were but he also knew that the potential cost outweighed the benefits.

But with the bad came the good. Naruto had a sunny disposition despite his hardships and a personality that just made people want to trust him if they ever got to know him. The elderly leader just knew that the boy was destined for great things. His mind snapped back to reality when said boy called out, "Good morning Old Man! How're you doing?"

"Oh this morning is going quiet well for me Naruto. So tell me, how have things been? Are you adjusting alright to your new home?" the Professor said while putting out his pipe so he didn't damage the boy's lungs.

"It's been going great so far Old Man! I'm able to make my own meals and stuff all by myself and everything," the young boy said excitedly. "Oh, and I've made a new friend named Kurama. He's actually one of the reasons I wanted to stop by 'cause we both gots some questions for you!"

"That's wonderful news Naruto! It's always a privilege to make new friends. So, who's Kurama and what questions do the two of you have?" Hiruzen said while on the inside he was extremely happy for the boy he'd come to see as a surrogate grandson. The old ninja was taking a long drink of some freshly brewed tea when the boy answered.

"He's a big fox I met last night in my mind and the two of us were wondering what's he doing sealed inside me?" the boy asked innocently and bluntly.

Let it be known that there are few things that could startle Hiruzen Sarutobi, but that question made the aged leader spit out the lukewarm tea he'd been drinking all over his desk. Unfortunately, the tea had soaked all of the papers he had just spent the last two days working on, ruining them completely.

'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOO!' Inner Hiruzen screamed while crying anime tears while the real Hiruzen just stared at the young blond in naked shock. He stared at the boy for a good five minutes while sputtering nonsense before Naruto started to wave his hand in front of his face and saying, "Hey Old Man, you still there?"

The Third quickly shook his head and cleared his mind before looking at the blonde's questioning face before asking, "H-how did you end up meeting this…Kurama, was it? And what did the two of you talk about?" After Naruto explained how he met the young fox and their discussion, Hiruzen went into deep thought. 'Has the Kyubi honestly lost its memory, or is it simply trying to trick Naruto? Kushina and Lady Mito once said that any contact that they made with the beast were never civil, so why does it seem like Naruto is different? And why does the fox call itself Kurama? Does it actually have a name?! I better gain another opinion on this before I make any decisions.'

Calming his features, the Professor looked at the boy and said, "Well Naruto, I do understand a bit of what happened to your new friend, however I need to talk to a few other people just to be sure on the matter. If it is alright with you can you come back sometime tomorrow afternoon? I'll make sure to answer your questions then to the best of my ability."

Naruto tilted his head like he was listening to something or someone and after a moment said, "Sure Old Man, I'll make sure to come by tomorrow!"

Before the blond left the older man called out to him, "Oh and Naruto; don't try doing anything in the seal until after tomorrow please. We wouldn't want anything bad to happen now would we?"

Naruto gave an affirmative wave before heading out the door. After the blond left Hiruzen paged his secretary and said, "Get me Jiraiya and Inoichi, they both should be in Konoha at this time so please make sure they arrive on the double." With that, the God of Shinobi turned to his stack of ruined papers and thought, 'Now how can I make these papers mysteriously disappear without a trace?'

**Scene Break**

Naruto casually strolled down the streets of Konoha while having a mental conversation with his foxy friend. While both were slightly upset that they couldn't get their answers right away, both of them could see that the information had shocked the old kage and they figured if he needed to take a moment to process everything. It did slightly worry the duo about how their might be more people getting involved, but figured that their current situation was over both their heads so having other inputs might not be a bad thing. Plus they figured the elderly leader wouldn't betray their trust so readily anyway, in their child-like innocence.

"So Kurama, anything you'd like to do today?" Naruto asked his friend out loud, earning a few weird glances from nearby spectators. Inside the seal, Kurama scratched his head in thought before saying, **"Well, is there any place where I can get a full view of this village? I've never really seen a human town before so I'm kinda curious. Oh, and before I forget, ya might wanna talk to me using your thoughts from now on, I think your making others think you're crazy!"**

Naruto looked around and finally noticed that everyone was looking at him like he grew a second head (still beat the glares though). He laughed sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head before sprinting towards the park. The whiskered child figured that the best way to show the kit the sites was to go to the top of the Hokage Monument that overlooked the village. As the boy traveled through the park that leads to the monument, he came upon an infuriating site.

A group of boys a few years older than him were surrounding a dark haired girl around his age and seemed to be shouting out random insults at the trembling girl. There were such phrases used as 'pale eyed freak' and 'stuck up noble' among them. The girl was clearly shaken and was trying not to cry, which seemed to encourage the bullies to increase their verbal assault. Then one of the boys shoved the girl from behind, causing her to fall on her knees. Despite what happened after he saved that pink haired girl from a similar situation a few days ago, Naruto's chivalry and sense of protecting those in need rose up with a vengeance. Kurama was mimicking his jinchuriki's train of thought and started to leak some of his chakra to the boy. The boy's pupils became slits while his whisker-marks thickened a bit, but no other immediately noticeable changes occurred.

The blond rushed forward and delivered a wicked haymaker to the bully who pushed the girl, sending him flying while missing a few baby teeth. The other boys, after getting over their initial shock, started to rush the younger child. Naruto ducked under one boy's punch with speed he didn't know he had and delivered a roundhouse kick to the back of the boy's knees, causing him to collapse in a heap. The next two rushed him at the same time with their fists drawn back but, due to Kurama's quick advice, the fox container was able to duck at the last second causing the boys to knock each other out. The final boy tried going in for a snap kick to the blonde's temple but the shot only grazed him leaving a slight cut. Naruto saw an opening and punched around the boy's still outstretched leg, nailing him square in the family jewels.

With all the bullies laid either out cold or in too much pain to cause further problems, the whisker-marked boy moved over to the girl he saved, who was still on the ground but in a bent over position with a wide-eyed expression having seen the whole one-sided fight. Naruto's features quickly returned to normal and his cut had already started to close as he moved over to the girl's position. Absentmindedly noticing the girls strange pupil-less pale lavender eye's, Naruto asked, "Hey, you alright?"

Snapping out of her daze the girl looked at her savior and stuttered out, "Y-yes, t-thank you for saving m-me." She said shyly.

Naruto gave a foxlike smile and said, "No problem! I hate it when jerks like them pick on others. My name's Naruto Uzumaki, what's yours?"

Slightly startled by the sudden change in topic the girl said timidly, "H-Hinata Hyuga."

"Hinata, that's a pretty cool name! Mine means maelstrom you know!" Naruto said in his usual loud way of speaking, "So what were those bone-heads messing with you for?" Internally Naruto was asking Kurama what he thought was wrong with the girl, as she kept stuttering and was looking a progressively darker shade of red. The Biju child just shrugged his hairy shoulders and said, **"Beats me. Maybe she's still in shock or somethin'?"**

Mentally nodding at the reasonable explanation, Naruto turned his attention to the young heiress before him as she was finally able to stutter out a response, "W-well, they m-might not have l-liked me for my c-clan. Most p-people seem t-to hold the H-Hyuga clan in h-high r-regard, b-but others look to us with j-jel-jelosily?" Hinata stuttered over her explanation that her father had given to her on why some people would treat her the way they do outside their compound. She hadn't fully understood it until today, due to her guardian Ko allowing her to go to the other side of the park as long as she promised not to go far so she could spend time with children her own age. She was just out of Ko's range of normal sight and hearing when the bullies had surrounded her and the following chaos ensued. Hinata was still trying to piece together why the blond (she blushed to herself) had gone out of his way to save her even though it looked like he had no idea who her clan was, let alone that she was the heiress of said clan.

Just as she was about to give her thanks to the boy, she heard Ko calling out to her and saw the Branch member standing on the hill looking worried. Hinata then turned to the mysterious boy and bowed while saying a quiet 'thank you'.

Naruto looked slightly bashful at the rare display of respect to him and said, "That's alright! Hope to catch you around Hinata!"

Said girl turned maroon and said shyly, "I-I'd like that." Before heading over to where her guard was waiting for her. Naruto nodded his head and said, "She seems nice, a little weird, but nice!" while on the inside he was hoping he had made another possible friend in the stuttering girl. **"Gotta agree with you there Naruto. Hope those idiots learned their lesson not to mess with us huh?" **said a certain fox Biju

Naruto blinked and said, "Oh that reminds me, what'd you do Kurama? I suddenly moved faster than ever and was able to take those jerks down with one hit!"

Kurama nodded with a flop of his long ears and said, **"Yeah that's because I channeled some of my chakra into you." **Noticing Naruto's dumbfounded expression Kurama elaborated, **"It basically means I let you use some of my power so you wouldn't get your butt kicked by those other humans."**

"Wow, so that's what your power is like? It felt awesome like I could do anything at all! If we work together, we could become an awesome ninja duo in the future, believe it!"

"**Heh, that'll be something to think about later, right now you promised to show me the sights, y'know what I mean?" **Kurama said before thinking,** 'Why does it feel like I learned that from someone else?'**

Naruto gave a nod and raced up the mountain side to sit on his favorite spot in the village, at the top of the Fourth Hokage's stone head. Kurama looked at the breathtaking site through Naruto's eyes and thought, **"Wow, this is beautiful."** Naruto grinned and said, "It sure is, isn't it?" The two spent the better part of an hour just watching the village from their vantage point in a comfortable silence before Naruto started to head back home so he could rest up for his meeting with the Old Man the next day.

**AN: **Well here we are again. Before anyone says anything, yes I know that eh interaction between Naruto and Sarutobi could have been better but I found myself lacking in knowledge on how to write a conversation between a four year old and a sixty year old about a giant fox demon. I'm always available for a beta or constructive criticism via PM's or reviews, so if people are able to give me enough material to work with I'll go back and edit this chapter. I don't want to set up an update schedule so as to not get people's hopes up, I'll update when I can as often as I can. I plan on adding at most two more stories onto my page but that'll be it. I don't want to write more stories than I can handle. Also, the more popular the story the more it'll get updated. Please note NONE of my stories will ever be discontinued. I'll allow people to try and adopt my ideas but I plan on at least trying to finish my own versions for my readers. Please keep on reading and reviewing and I want to thank everyone who's followed me and my stories so far, it must mean I'm doing something right! Till next time!


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